


A Dream of Mars

by maddierose



Category: The Expanse (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Complicated Relationships, Dark Past, Eventual Romance, F/M, Healing, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28852278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddierose/pseuds/maddierose
Summary: The personal assistant of the Martian Defense Minister, Drea Valmont sees something she isn't meant to. In an instant, her life is overturned, and she is on the run. Far from home, with a secret that could bring down governments, Drea is picked up by an unlikely ally—the crew of the Rocinante.
Relationships: Amos Burton/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	A Dream of Mars

**Author's Note:**

> So I've posted this over on ff.net but thought I'd post here too. Let me know what you think.

**Warnings: none**

Drea Valmont had been to Earth three times, and each time she hated it a little more. 

The first time was during her brief tenure as a Martian Marine. Drea reckoned she’d been about nineteen or twenty at the time. God, it was weird to think how different she had been back then, so young and full of buoyant optimism. It felt like a lifetime ago. Drea couldn’t even remember the occasion—it was one some brief assignment accompanying the crew of the  _ MCRN Hephaestus _ . That tugged at the heartstrings, thinking of her old crew.

The second time had been only a few months into her role as Defense Minister Pyotr Korshunov’s personal assistant. She’d been around...what, twenty-six? Older, more jaded, that youthful hopefulness wiped clean. Drea had faltered as she’d stepped outside, feeling the weight of Earth’s gravity bearing down upon her Martian bones.

This was the third time.

As the shuttle ground to a halt, she tugged down the sunglasses that a member of the crew was handing out. The last thing she needed was to be blinded by the absurd brightness of the sun from Earth.

“One foot in front of the other, Drea.” Tully Rumancek, Korshunov’s executive assistant of close to a decade and one of the closest things Drea had to a friend and mentor, gave her a tight smile. Tully was a warm, maternal woman in her late forties who had always taken a shine to Drea. In fact, she’d been the one to offer Drea the job as part of the Defense Minister’s team.

“I remember how it works,” Drea grumbled, shouldering her rucksack.

The Martian delegation had been invited to Earth as part of a peace summit. After a concerning incident on Ganymede that had led to both planets suffering losses, it was up to Korshunov to reach a satisfying outcome with the UN. Drea and Tully had accompanied to offer assistance. Even as they trekked across the tarmac toward their greeting party, Tully was scanning through the latest notice to hit her inbox regarding the peace talks.

Drea kept her eyes ahead, surveying her surroundings. That was one of the reasons she had been hired. Drea was a perceptive woman, good at observing people. She hadn’t always been that way. During her years as a Marine, Drea had been naive and gullible. She brushed such thoughts away like they were cobwebs in the corners of her mind.

Once they entered the embassy, Drea plastered a sweet smile across her features. Tully exuded the aura of a woman of steel to hide her soft heart. Drea was the opposite. Dark-haired, dark-eyed, deceptively pretty but not beautiful enough to garner more than an appropriate amount of attention.

“Welcome to Earth.” Their greeting party was led by a pale man, probably a similar age to Tully. “I’m Undersecretary Sadavir Errinwright.”

Pyotr stepped forward to shake his hand. “Defense Minister Pyotr Korshunov. This is my executive assistant Tully Rumancek, and my personal assistant Drea Valmont. We have another shuttle landing in a few hours with the remainder of the delegation.”

“A pleasure.” Errinwright’s smile never reached his eyes. Something about the man made Drea uneasy, though she couldn’t have said what. She would research more on him in the privacy of her room. Her head throbbed, and she reached up to rub at her temples.

After pleasantries were exchanged, the Martian delegation were shown to their rooms, and Drea immediately scanned her database for information on the peace talks. Her stomach twisted when she noted that a Martian Marine called Roberta Draper, the sole survivor of the skirmish on Ganymede, was being brought forward to deliver her testimony on how events had transpired.

Tully had once said that Drea was a workaholic. That simply wasn’t true. The truth was that Drea’s mind never stopped turning, the cogs going even as she lay down and closed her eyes to get some sleep. Drea owed Pyotr gratitude for accepting her into his employ, especially after the Ceres incident.

She thought about a lot of things, but that was one thing she tried not to.

* * *

Tully arrived at half past seven local time with several plastic containers fogging up with heat. Drea crowed in delight as she inspected them. Her colleague had always made sure Drea was well fed, noting Drea’s tendency to skip meals when she was absorbed in her work. Curiosity hastened Drea’s hands as she pried open the containers. She hadn’t had Earth food in some time.

“So, what’s all this?”

“Some local cuisine.” Tully perched herself in a plastic chair and helped herself to some of the food as well. “I thought I’d update you on the itinerary. Tomorrow and the following day involve talks with the UN government. I’ve been advised that Undersecretary Errinwright has invited Pyotr to the opera the night after that.”

Drea arched an eyebrow. “An opera?”

“ _ Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany _ .”

“Pyotr’s favourite,” Drea murmured, stirring her fried rice, “How interesting.”

Errinwright had certainly done his research. Pyotr would often play songs from the opera between meetings back in their office on Mars. In truth, Drea found the sound unbearable, and had politely declined when Pyotr had offered to bring her as a guest when his wife had been ill. Drea didn’t think she had nearly been so thorough in her examination of details on the UN government.

“Drea?” Tully’s question made her realise she had fallen silent for several minutes, caught up in her own head. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s just...strange, being off Mars.” Drea twirled her fork through her half-eaten meal. “I haven’t really travelled much since I got back from Ceres.”

Tully’s expression was sympathetic, but Drea didn’t need anyone’s pity. Few people knew the full details of the Ceres incident, of why Drea had been pulled from the Marines and employed by the Martian government instead. Tully was one, Pyotr was another. It wasn’t a story she enjoyed sharing. Drea prickled with irritation at that look, because she didn’t need anyone else’s pity.

“Don’t give me that look, Tully. It was ages ago now.”

“Some wounds don’t heal,” Tully said softly.

Drea pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let’s just focus on why we’re here, okay?”

But when Tully left and Drea was once again alone with her constantly ticking mind, she stared up at the ceiling and watched the sliver of light peeking out from her blinds. She drifted to sleep with thoughts of a neon-lit bar and a Belter who’d offered to buy her a drink, dark eyes gleaming as bright as the sun.


End file.
